Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

As Rural Hospitals Close, Communities May Be Forced To Make Tough Decisions

Hospitals tend to be cornerstone institutions in rural communities, but many of them, under financial stress, are closing. Meanwhile, Community Health Systems' stock dropped amid reports of a $2 billion net loss in the fourth quarter.

NPR:
Many Rural Hospitals Must Adapt Or Close, Economics Suggest
Heidi Schultz grew up traveling from one end of South Dakota to the other, tagging along as her sister saw doctors and specialists in the "big cities" to treat her diabetes. Schultz thought she knew rural America well when she took a position as a rural health care program officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust in Wyoming and Montana. But even she has been surprised by how she can drive hours on country highways seeing few cars and just "a handful of gravel driveways going somewhere you can't see." (St. Clair, 2/28)

Modern Healthcare:
Community Health Systems' Share Price Falls 17%
Community Health Systems' stock price fell 17% Wednesday following the previous day's release of results for 2017, including a $2 billion net loss in the fourth quarter. The company's executives chalked up the net loss to non-cash accounting changes that won't affect its future earnings or cash flows, though investors apparently weren't convinced. The Franklin, Tenn.-based hospital chain's stock price plunged after its investor call and finished the trading session down 17% at $5.12. The massive net loss, amounting to about $18 per share, was significantly wider than the $220 million net loss CHS reported in the fourth quarter of 2016. (Bannow, 2/28)

In other health industry news —

Bloomberg:
Collective Health Bets Employers Are Fed Up With Health Expenses
Collective Health Inc., a startup offering tech-savvy tools for managing health benefits, has raised a fresh infusion of investor cash as it seeks to win over more employers fed up with a fragmented, costly market. The San Francisco-based company, founded in 2013, is betting that growing dissatisfaction with rising health-care costs will lure more firms to its technology, which lets employers cut through the tangle of different benefits they typically administer. (Tracer, 2/28)

Bloomberg:
N.J.'s Horizon Blue Cross Sees $550 Million Benefit From Tax Law
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state’s largest health insurer, said the new federal tax law will result in the company receiving $550 million of refunds over the next five years. The measure, enacted by President Donald Trump in 2017, eliminated the alternative minimum tax for businesses. As a result, Horizon can receive a refund for unused tax credits, the not-for-profit insurer said in a statement. (Sherman, 2/28)

Bloomberg:
Alphabet-Backed Startup Clover Health Posts $22 Million Loss In 2017
Clover Health, an insurance startup backed by Alphabet Inc., reduced its loss last year as the health-care company seeks to inch its way beyond its first market in New Jersey. Despite being one of the most richly valued health-tech startups in the U.S., Clover only offered insurance to seniors living in New Jersey, until a recent expansion to parts of Georgia, Pennsylvania and Texas. The New Jersey operation lost $22 million last year, an improvement from a $35 million loss in 2016, Clover said. Revenue grew to $267 million from $184 million. (Chapman, 3/1)

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